Local Housing Allowance
The local housing allowance (LHA) is a new way of paying out Housing Benefit for people on low income who rent accommodation from private landlords. We have a Guide on Local Housing Allowance (PDF 39Kb).
Local Housing Allowance will usually be paid directly to you and not your landlord unless there are special circumstances (PDF 85KB). You will be paid either straight into a bank account (PDF 65.4Kb) or by cheque. It is up to you to make sure that your rent is paid to your landlord.
The current rent allowance is calculated by taking into account the maximum eligible rent of a property, as determined by the rent registration service, whereas the new LHA is a flat rate allowance based on household size (Excel 24Kb).
We have the Local Housing Allowance for January 2012 (PDF 124Kb) and February 2012 (PDF 124KB) on this website.
It replaced the current scheme of awarding rent allowance to those private tenants affected by the change.
This means that the Benefits Service will no longer need to refer each claim to the Rent Registration Service to establish the maximum rent. This will make it easier for the Benefits Service to administer and speed up the processing of claims and the payment of benefit.
Changes to Housing Benefit from January 2012
The Government has changed the rules that apply to single people living in self-contained accommodation and aged 25 or more, but under 35. This means that they will only be entitled to the lower rate of Housing Benefit for a room in shared accommodation.
If you are single and aged 25 or more, but under 35, when your Housing Benefit Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is reassessed from January 2012 onwards, this change will apply to you, unless you are covered by one of the exemptions.
The change means that you will move onto the LHA rate for shared accommodation in your area, which may be much lower.
The date that this will take effect varies depending on the circumstances of your claim:
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New claims from under 35 year olds made on or after 1st January 2012 will be assessed on the shared room rate straight away.
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Existing claims at 1st January 2012 under 35 who receive transitional protection will move on to the shared room rate at the end of the transitional protection period.
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Existing claims at 1st January 2012 under 35 who do not receive transitional protection will move to the shared room rate on the anniversary date of their claim.
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Existing claims at 1st January 2012 for pre LHA cases will move to the shared accomodation rate on the annual review of their claim.
Certain people under 35 are exempt from the change:-
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Households with children
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Households with non-dependants
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Young people leaving care, until they are 22 years old
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A person who qualifies for the Severe Disability Premium in their Housing Benefit, Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance
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A person who requires a overnight carer
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A person who has spent 3 months or more in a homeless hostel, where that person has engaged with rehabilitation and resettlement support services
We cannot tell you the exact rate for shared accommodation, as this varies from month to month. However, the current shared accommodation rate for property in this area is £64.00 (as at November 2011), which will give you an indication of the likely rate next year. There is more information about the change and about the current shared accommodation rates in different parts of the country on DirectGov (under local housing allowance).